


Make Mine a Double

by Strangexunusual



Category: Beetlejuice - All Media Types, Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown & King
Genre: Accidents, Clones, Comedy, Dead People, Demons, Families of Choice, Family, Found Family, Funny, Gen, Ghosts, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Hilarious, Hilarity, Hilarity Ensues, Mischief, Multi, Sisters, Trouble, Twins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 01:26:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29199084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strangexunusual/pseuds/Strangexunusual
Summary: Betelgeuse tries helping the Maitlands with cloning themselves, but they never expected to clone Lydia by mistake.After all, how much trouble can two Lydias possibly get themselves into?Tons of it, that’s what!Formerly titled “Keep it in the Dark”.
Relationships: Beetlejuice & Adam Maitland & Barbara Maitland, Beetlejuice & Charles Deetz & Delia Deetz & Lydia Deetz & Adam Maitland & Barbara Maitland, Charles Deetz & Delia Deetz & Lydia Deetz & Adam Maitland & Barbara Maitland, Lydia Deetz & Adam Maitland & Barbara Maitland, Lydia Deetz & Lydia Deetz
Comments: 8
Kudos: 11





	1. Two Lydias?

Betelgeuse leaned himself against a wall in the far corner of the attic, his arms folded as he watched the Maitlands’ thirtieth attempt at cloning themselves. And here, he figured it would’ve been one of the easiest and quickest things they learned to do. 

The last attempt, Barbara’s concentration had been broken by Adam getting distracted by asking Betelgeuse a plethora of questions regarding cloning. And it wasn’t that she herself was not curious about the subject as well; she was, but she wanted to keep her attention focused solely on cloning herself. But still, she was beginning to think that it was something that newly dead ghosts couldn’t do.

Adam had since returned his attention back to attempting to clone himself, it being the only thought running throughout his mind as he and Barbara once again tried creating clones of themselves.

Only for his and Barbara’s concentration to be broken yet again when Lydia’s familiar knock sounded on the attic door.

“Adam! Barbara! Are you guys in here?!” the teenage girl frantically called out from the other side of the attic floor. “I need help with my science homework! I’m stuck on one of the questions and I can’t seem to figure out the answer!”

Adam and Barbara’s attention snapped over towards the attic door as Lydia knocked loudly yet again, again shouting out for them. Barbara made her way over towards the attic door, opening it and letting Lydia in. Lydia entered the attic, sitting on the closest chair, pulling out the science homework she was having trouble with.

She started reading off the problem that she needed help with, going on about how it didn’t make sense, how she couldn’t do it, that she didn’t notice that her ghost parents were quieter than they usually were until she finished reading off the problem and looked up at them. 

“I’m interrupting something, aren’t I?” she guessed, looking between Adam and Barbara then turning her attention over to Betelgeuse.

“No, of course not, Lydia,” said Barbara, trying to calm the regretful looking teen down. “We’ll gladly help you out with your homework. Just let us finish up with what we’re currently doing and then we can work it out.”

“Oh, well, thanks. I’m still sorry for interrupting,” Lydia whispered under her breath, looking away from Adam and Barbara as a look of remorse crossed her face; which eventually softened up. She set her science homework off to the side and returned her attention back over towards her three deceased pals as they went back to what they had been doing.

The next few minutes passed by a lot slower than Lydia herself anticipated, and she was now laying across the chair she had sat down in not too long ago. Another failed attempt. By now, Adam and Barbara could do nothing but give up on trying to clone themselves. By now, it seemed like it was clear to them that newly dead ghosts could not, in fact, create clones of themselves. They looked over towards Lydia, who had maneuvered herself into a position in which she was draped over the chair, legs kicking in the air.

“Hey, silly. How about now we help you out with your homework?” Lydia looked up at the Maitlands, amusement crossing her face when Adam and Barbara appeared upside down in her field of vision.

“Adam, Barbara, why are you upside down?” Lydia asked, giggles escaping her throat.

Barbara rolled her eyes in a look of amusement, using her powers to right Lydia. Snapping her fingers, Barbara turned the chair Lydia had initially been sitting in into a desk/chair. The science homework Lydia had been needing help with was arranged neatly in front of her and she was just staring at it in surprise.

“Now what part of it do you not understand?” asked Barbara, her and Adam taking a seat either side of the teenager. 

“So this particular question that I’m having trouble with relates to cloning an animal, but i can’t find much about it from researching on the internet. Could you help me out here?”

Lydia glanced at both ghosts, looking confused when she noticed they were taken aback. 

“Guys?” 

A sudden flash of light filled the room, completely unexpected. When it faded out finally, both ghosts looked at Lydia and saw a second Lydia standing next to her. Both teenagers exchanged glances and copied each other’s movements. 

“Neat,” they said in unison, a slight snark hinted at in both of their voices. 

They gave each other a high five and chuckled as the Maitlands looked at the two of them then turned their attention over towards each other, looks of sheer panic crossing each of their faces as they processed the situation at hand. 

“Should I be concerned or excited that we managed to clone not ourselves but Lydia?” asked Barbara out of confusion, again glancing at the two Lydias and then back at Adam.

“Concerned,” answered Adam almost immediately.

The two ghosts made their way back over towards the two girls, standing next to either one of them because they weren’t sure which one was the real Lydia and which one was the clone. They looked like identical twins, to be fair. And neither of them seemed to be too bothered about the current situation at hand.

“Lydia?” asked Barbara, though she knew that both of them were going to respond. 

Yep. Both girls looked up at Barbara, the same exact grin plastered on both of their faces. Now how were they supposed to tell them apart?

“You know,” Barbara mouthed to Adam when both Lydias turned their attention back down towards the science homework that the real Lydia had asked them for help with shortly before everything that had happened. “Charles and Delia are definitely not going to be too thrilled when they get home from work to find not one, but two Lydias.” 

“I agree,” Adam whispered back as Betelgeuse moved to stand over near the two ghosts. “I most definitely agree.”


	2. The Shit Hits the Fan

Adam and Barbara could only watch on silently as both Lydias engaged in an intense game of tag, what had occurred just moments earlier completely out of everyone’s minds.

The two teenage girls were having way too much fun, yes, but all that was on both Adam and Barbara’s minds was how exactly they were going to figure out which Lydia was the real one and which one of them was the clone. Since both girls had decided to act too similar to one another in an amusing way to throw the two ghosts off, this was becoming much more difficult than they originally thought.

“Woah! Hey! Careful with that!” Adam shouted out in desperation, leaping forward and catching a vase that had been thrown by one of the Lydias as she ran past it. He’d only put it back where it had originally been and straightened it with his powers when another object was thrown in his general direction.

“Hey, Adam! Think fast!” the Lydia who had not thrown various stuff at him shouted from behind him. He turned on his heel to find her standing on top of a table and holding a chair directly above her head, a soft grin of amusement stretched across her face. 

“Put that down!” he replied ever so sternly, raising an eyebrow as he folded his arms and eyed her.

She bent down to put the chair she had previously been holding back, then slid off the table before making her way over to Adam. The male ghost suddenly found himself in a staring contest with the teenager, a little unsure.

“Um... what,” he said, blinking in order to get out of it. 

“I WIN!” she exclaimed out loud to him, throwing her hands up into the air, a small, sly smile crossing her face.

All Adam could do was nod, a concerned silence falling over him.

The Lydia who had decided to do the staring contest with Adam suddenly zoomed past the stunned male ghost, joining the other her by the now open attic door. Adam, like Barbara, had turned his attention over to the two teens, kinda confused. 

The exact same tone of sternness from earlier returned to the male ghost’s voice. “Now wait just a minute... Where do you two think you’re going?”

The Lydias turned to look at one another, each one giving the other a knowing smile before turning back to Adam. Adam and Barbara studied each girl’s movements carefully, hoping that it would help them discern which Lydia was the real one and which one was the clone. But since both teenagers were still doing the exact same thing, the two ghosts still weren’t sure.

“Downstairs???” the Lydia on the right eventually responded rather excitedly and quickly, the Lydia on the left nodding along in agreement.

“Why don’t you two stay up here in the attic for a while longer?” Barbara calmly suggested, causing the two girls to once again exchange glances. “We don’t want Charles and Delia to come home and stress out over seeing that there are two of you.” 

“Nah,” the two girls said at once, shrugging in perfect sync. “Dad and Delia won’t care.”

“Well... uh... Delia probably wouldn’t, to be fair,” responded Barbara, a little unsure. “But your dad probably would.” 

“Uh... Barb...”

She turned to look at Adam, who was staring straight ahead, his eyes widened. When she turned her attention back over towards the still opened attic door, both of the Lydias had since left the room. She exchanged a rather worried glance with Adam, then the two panicked ghosts, as well as Betelgeuse, rushed downstairs.

Downstairs, both of the Lydias were currently using the couch as a trampoline and laughing loudly with huge grins stretched across their faces. Pillows and cushions were strewn across the living room carpet, a result of the brief pillow fight that they had had just moments before. They stopped jumping, throwing nearby blankets over their heads and standing still and silently as the voices of Adam, Barbara, and Betelgeuse were heard. Adam and Barbara looked around the entire area of the house, only just stopping when their eyes landed on the two blankets that they knew just had to be both Lydias.

Adam and Barbara crept into the living room as silently as they possibly could, not wanting to alert either Lydia of their presence. But it was soon since clear to the two ghosts that both of the Lydias most definitely knew. Adam stopped short of the blanket covered Lydia on the left whilst Barbara stopped short of the one on the right, both ghosts yanking the blankets off of them in unison. 

“Got ya!” Adam said, a small, sly smile plastered on his face. 

Both of the Lydias turned to look at one another, gave each other a high five, and then proceeded to jump off the couch. 

“No you don’t!” the rightmost Lydia called over her shoulder as she and the other Lydia rushed right back upstairs to the bedroom on the second floor of the house that they were now sharing. Adam and Barbara groaned in unison. Two things ran through both of their minds...

One, how where they going to explain the whole situation to Charles and Delia once they got home from work?

And two, how were they going to keep both of them out of trouble?

Glancing towards the clock situated on a far wall of the living room, Barbara took immediate notice that the time now read a quarter after five; meaning that Charles and Delia would be home from work not too long from now. Adam quickly used his powers to put all the pillows and cushions that both of the Lydias had thrown onto the floor, as well as the two blankets that now lay in a messy pile on the floor next to the couch back where they originally were. Barbara stood over by the oven in the kitchen, starting up on that night’s dinner so that Delia wouldn’t have to go through yet another panic attack.

Soon, they heard Charles’ and Delia’s cars pull into the garage and nodded in unison, deciding it be best they explain the situation to the living couple; though they still were not prepared for how they were going to react. Adam headed upstairs to tell both of the Lydias that it was time for dinner and Barbara served up the dinner onto the four plates sitting on the kitchen counter, levitating them one by one onto the kitchen table just as Charles and Delia entered the house. 

Barbara spun around to greet them, hiding the fourth plate from the living couple’s view. 

“Hi,” she said, sounding chipper and trying her best to hide the worry she felt for if either living adult found out too soon. 

“Barbara, is something up? Did something happen?” questioned Charles, sounding both confused and concerned. 

“No. Not at all. Everything’s fine,” she lied, secretly gesturing for her husband and both of the Lydias to stop halfway down the stairs. Charles raised an eyebrow and Barbara sighed quietly to herself, motioning for her husband and both teenagers to continue down the stairs.

Barbara gestured for the living couple to join her in the living room, the female ghost sitting quietly on the couch across from Charles and Delia as Adam and both of the Lydias joined them as well. 

“W-well... you see... the thing is...”


	3. On the Brink of Disaster

“W-well, y-you see...” Barbara gulped, then fell silent. She closed her eyes for a few minutes, then opened them, glancing at the living male; who was still awaiting her answer. “Lydia came upstairs needing mine and Adam’s help with her homework. When she told us it was about cloning, let’s just say it accidentally made us create a clone of her instead of clones of ourselves like we had been trying to do all day.”

Charles’ eyes widened as he looked from Barbara to Adam and both of the Lydias and then back towards Barbara. Then he calmed down. “It’s not that I don’t like the fact that there is now a clone of my daughter, but what’re we going to do in the meantime? And is there a way to figure out which one’s the clone?” 

Adam and Barbara shrugged in unison, and Charles let out a sigh. His attention drifted over to Adam and both of the Lydias, looking for any sort of way that could tell the two girls apart. Upon finding nothing whatsoever, Charles rested the back of one of his hands against his forehead and groaned softly to himself. He checked the time on his watch and deduced the lot of them turn in for the night. After all, it was getting late is it was.

Upstairs, Barbara and Adam kept their eyes on both of the Lydias as they did everything except get themselves ready for bed. At first the rightmost Lydia had put the black nightdress that she had been given directly on top of her head. Which in turn led to Barbara rolling her eyes and using her powers to actually put it on the teenager’s body. The Lydia on the left had insisted on putting her nightdress on backwards, then inside out, then inside out and backwards.

The night passed by both slowly and quickly, if not for the rest of the household being woken up in the middle of the night by both Lydias waking up, not wanting to go back to sleep, and spending a good hour of the night goofing around and engaging in a pillow fight which was instantly cut short by the Maitlands. The next morning began with both of the Lydias putting their clothes on inside out and Barbara sighing to herself as she snapped her fingers.

Downstairs, the two Lydias asked for pancakes. When Barbara finished and set the two plates down in front of both of them, the Lydia on the left immediately stood up to grab the chocolate sauce and drizzled it over her pancakes, then she handed it over to the other Lydia who proceeded to do the same thing.

Finishing up with what she was currently doing, Barbara turned to find that both of the Lydias had since stacked their pancakes in a giant pile on a third plate that the female ghost was not aware either of them had gotten out, laughing quietly to herself.

“Do you guys even need a third plate?”

The Lydia on the right nodded, whereas the one on the left pointed.

Barbara turned her attention over to the cupboards, noticing immediately that nearly all of them were open. Sighing quietly to herself, Barbara snapped her fingers and all of the cupboard doors closed carefully. When Barbara turned back around to face the kitchen island, both of the Lydias had since disappeared. 

“Now, where did they get off to?” Barbara wondered out loud.

Rolling her eyes, the female ghost made her way over to the stairwell, where she could clearly hear the familiar sounds of both Lydias laughing coming from the second floor of the house, as well as the confused voice of her husband.

She made her way up the stairs, pushing open the door to the room that both of the Lydias now shared to find both teens standing back to back on top of one of their beds and Adam standing at the foot of the bed, looking both confusedly and concernedly at both of the girls.

Barbara moved to stand over near Adam, whispering, “what’s going on?” 

“They kinda got engaged in another pillow fight and were insisting that I join in.” 

“Why does a pillow fight involve them standing back to back with their arms outstretched in front of them?” asked Barbara concernedly, her and Adam turning their attention back to both Lydias.

“I don’t know. I guess they kinda started doing that after I said I wasn’t going to take part in their pillow fight???”

Barbara nodded in understanding, her and Adam ducking as the Lydia that was facing them leapt off the bed and over their heads, landing perfectly over by the bedroom door and rushing out of it. Then the one with her back to them turned and did the same thing, also rushing out of the bedroom.

‘Oh boy,’ echoed in Adam and Barbara’s minds as they turned on their heels and raced out the door after them.

They stopped short of the staircase, noticing that both of the girls were either about to slide down the stair railing or down the stairs themselves. The Lydia on the right turned to the one on the left, nodding to her. At once, the rightmost Lydia climbed up on the stair railing and the leftmost one sat at the top of the stairs. Adam and Barbara looked at each other, panicky, then rushed over towards the stairs.

Almost immediately Barbara levitated the Lydia that was sitting upon the stair railing and set her gently down onto the floor, which resulted in the teen giving her a pouty face.

“How about we not do that???” Barbara giggled quietly and ever so nervously, shooting a glance over towards Adam as the other Lydia stood up from her spot on the stairs and also gave her a pouty face.

Both Lydias looked at one another then turned their attention back to Barbara, the pouty faces they were giving softening just a little. 

“But it’s fun,” the leftmost Lydia said desolately.

Barbara floated over to them, placing one hand each on their shoulders. “It won’t be fun if either of you gets hurt. What will your dad and Delia say?” 

Neither teenager answered, both staying silent before turning on their heels and rushing down the stairs, giggles escaping their throats. Barbara and Adam looked at one another then teleported downstairs, reappearing in the living room as both girls chucked cushions at one another and at the two ghosts.

Adam groaned as a cushion thrown in his direction passed through him. Barbara placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Look on the bright side,” Barbara said, looking to Adam then back towards both of the Lydias as they continued on with their current pillow fight. “At least they’re both happy and laughing and not depressed.”


	4. Barrel of Laughs

After Barbara had gone upstairs to see what Charles and Delia needed her help with, Adam turned his attention over towards both Lydias, the two teenagers laughing in sync as they popped up from behind their chosen hiding place of the couch. They each clutched a cushion and were now grinning playfully at him.

“Hey now!” the male ghost chuckled. 

Adam smirked slyly as he turned transparent, had the two cushions sail through him and land next to one another on the kitchen floor, before turning back to his usual solidness. Both girls had ducked down behind the couch again, opting to remain silent in an attempt to make Adam think they were no longer in the living room and somewhere else in the house.

“Now where did you two disappear off to?” Adam asked, no, pondered out loud, turning to head upstairs.

“SURPRISE!!!!!” both of the girls shouted out at once.

This caused Adam to spin on his heel as the two teenagers popped up from behind the couch and jumped over it, landing on the floor right in front of the fireplace and giving Adam playful grins as they turned towards one another and gave each other a high five. They ran around Adam as the male ghost playfully launched himself towards them and tried to tackle either one of them to the floor. However, he looked up at both teenagers, now standing in the middle of the living room floor and grinning down at him.

“Got ya!” both girls giggled at once.

“Yes, you two did get me good! And this time, I’m gonna get ya!” Adam shouted out in a playful tone of voice, chuckling lightly and loudly to himself as he leapt towards the rightmost Lydia and tackled her to the carpeted living room floor before starting to tickle her nonstop, causing her to chuckle amusingly and flail about.

“Nope! I’m gonna get you!” the Lydia that was still standing giggled amusingly as she launched herself on top of Adam.

“Hey!” Adam said in a teasing tone of voice as he tried to get out from his current situation stuck in between both of the teenagers, only for both of the girls to prevent him from doing so. “No fair!”

“Yes fair!” both girls said excitedly at once.

Barbara returned to the living room twenty or so minutes later, followed closely behind by Charles, Delia, and Betelgeuse; and the four of them stopped short of said room, the former three looking rather amusedly at the Lydia-Adam-Lydia pile in the middle of the living room floor. 

“Sandwiched in between both Lydias huh, Ad?” His wife covered her mouth with a hand in order to contain her laughter.

“No, I’m currently trapped beneath both of them and they are not letting me go,” he joked in an amused tone of voice, making everyone else in the household all burst into long and loud bouts of laughter.

“Need help getting out from between them?” Barbara asked.

“What does it look like?” Adam asked, again trying to get out from between both of the giggling teenagers. 

They glanced at one another and the Lydia on top of Adam got off of the male ghost and moved off to the side. This allowed Adam to get up as well; and the Lydia that he had tackled to the floor and tickled nonstop got up and moved to stand next to the other one.

“It’s not that I found that to be hilarious,” Adam said as he glanced around the room at the rest of the family. “But I’m starting to have enough of the constant pillow fights and goofing around that they’ve been doing since yesterday morning. I miss just having one Lydia around the house. Can’t we go back to that?”

At that, both of the Lydias pouted and glanced over at Barbara, Charles, and Delia.

“Adam, hun... don’t say something like that...” Barbara walked over to her husband and placed a hand on his shoulder as she glanced over her shoulder at both of the teenage girls; who were now huddled against their dad and Delia and being comforted by the two living adults.

He turned his attention over towards the two upset teenagers, an apologetic look on his face. In return, they looked back at him and pulled away from their dad and Delia.

“Look... I’m sorry, you two. I shouldn’t have said that.” Both of the Lydias turned to look at one another and then back over towards Adam, walking over towards the male ghost and wrapping their arms around him much to his surprise. The rest of the adults watched, then joined in on the hug as well.

Maybe having two Lydias instead of one would be a good thing after all.


	5. By Way of a Joke

Back upstairs in the attic, Adam and Barbara were trying their best to keep both Lydias out of trouble. For now, it was just them and both of the teenagers in the house. Charles and Delia had gone out for the day and Betelgeuse had gone to the Netherworld to do something important with the intention of coming back to the house later that night. He didn’t say when, he just said that he’d return at some point during the later hours of the night.

When one of the two teenagers went to jump on the Maitlands’ couch, Adam rushed over and tried to ask her to calm down. In response, the teenager stopped, jumped off the couch, and ran around Adam to join the other her over by the door. Then they turned their attention over towards the two ghosts as the same thought ran through their minds.

“Adam, Barb, do you guys want to play tag with us?” the Lydia on the left asked, curiosity present in the tone of her voice.

Unsure of what to think or say, Adam and Barbara exchanged confused glances then looked at both of the girls. They were looking at the two ghosts expectantly, awaiting for both of their answers to the leftmost Lydia’s question.

“I don’t know, girls,” a nervous Adam eventually uttered out after a few minutes, rubbing at the back of his head, Barbara nodding in agreement. “Charles and Delia told Barbara and I to keep the two of you out of trouble and we don’t want them to come home to a completely trashed house, do we?”

They looked at each other then turned their attention back to the Maitlands, matching pouts and pleading looks on their faces. In unison, they asked, “please?”

“No, girls,” Barbara sternly spoke up. While she said that as a final answer, neither teen was going to take it and, despite what both of the ghosts said, the two girls decided to play tag anyway. Not by themselves, though. They wanted the Maitlands to join in because they didn’t want to play tag when it was just the two of them. 

A plan formulating in both girls’ heads, they turned to look at one another and nodded and smirked before turning their attention back to Adam and Barbara.

Before either of them could know what was happening, the Lydia on the right rushed over and tagged Barbara softly on the shoulder and quietly said, “you’re it”, before running back over to the other Lydia and proceeding to run out of the attic with her following close behind. 

As the attic door slammed closed and the laughter from both of the Lydias faded and got quieter, Adam and Barbara looked at one another in surprise. They nodded at one another, figuring that they play tag with both of the girls now. From what they could tell, both of the girls wanted to spend a majority, if not a lot, of their time with them. Not to mention it was starting to appear that the two girls had them wrapped around their fingers. They were the ones that had accidentally created a clone of Lydia instead of clones of themselves like they had planned on doing after all.

Now they wanted to fix their mistake, but, knowing that both Lydias wanted to be together from now on, that in itself was slowly proving to be difficult.

They made their way to the closed attic door, but, before Adam could open it, Barbara stopped him and turned to look at him with a concerned look on her face, one that was eventually mirrored on Adam’s face.

After a couple minutes passed by quickly, Barbara asked, “should we-?”, in a quiet voice.

“I don’t- I mean, it seems to me like they really want us to play tag with them,” replied Adam, shrugging ever so slightly.

Barbara sighed, but agreed, adding in a sort of soft voice, “I just hope they haven’t trashed the entire main floor of the house yet. Let’s both go downstairs and just make sure that nothing’s happened, okay?”

“Me too,” said Adam with a nod.

Barbara carefully opened the attic door, and the two ghosts slowly and quietly made their way down the attic stairs and the stairs of the second floor of the house before entering the living room. The first thing they found was both Lydias flinging blankets at one another, the game of tag that they had initially wanted to play completely fresh out of their minds.

The Maitlands stood in the corner, silently watching on in confusion as the Lydia with her back to them stopped flinging her blanket at the other her and instead decided to start wrapping it around her. As for why, the Maitlands weren’t sure. But it appeared to be that the other Lydia wanted this to happen, seeming as how she was giggling softly and looking down as the one facing backwards did so.

Eventually, both Adam and Barbara wanted to know what was going on and they slowly made their way over to where both Lydias were. The two girls looked in their direction, exuberant smiles on their faces, as they came to a stop a few feet from them.

It was Barbara who broke the silence that had fallen over the room for a few minutes.

“What’s up with the blanket flinging and wrapping each other in blankets, you two?” asked Barbara in an amused tone of voice. “I thought you guys wanted to play tag?”

Both girls looked at one another then turned to look at the Maitlands, the Lydia that now stood to the left choosing to speak up, “well, we wanted to play tag. But after a few minutes, and you not coming down until now, we decided to give up on our game of tag and instead mess around with these blankets.”

“I see. And you two didn’t break anything, did you?”

Both of the girls, nervously, pointed to the side almost immediately, and Adam and Barbara looked in that exact direction, Barbara clasping a hand over her mouth.


	6. The Tip of the Iceberg

The Maitlands looked from the multitude of shattered pieces of the lamp the two girls had broken that lay scattered across the carpeted floor to both of the girls, who looked both down and sorrowful about breaking it. They looked over at the Maitlands.

“We’re not in trouble, are we?” the Lydia to the left spoke out in a saddened tone of voice as she and the other Lydia huddled up together and held onto each other.

Barbara and Adam glanced at one another, then they turned their attention back over towards both of the Lydias, Barbara saying, “no, you two aren’t in trouble. It was just an accident.” The two teenagers looked hopeful at this. “But... we can replace the lamp that you two broke by flinging your blankets around. Right after we clean up the old one.”

Adam nodded, then added, “but don’t tell your dad or Delia about this. They’re not going to know the lamp was replaced, they’re going to think that it’s the exact same lamp and not even notice a slight difference between the two.”

“Not even notice a slight difference? Then let’s change it ever so slightly just to throw our dad and Delia off,” the Lydia on the right said with a giggle and an amused look on her face, giving the other Lydia a loud high five as they giggled hilariously in unison.

What? 

Again, Adam and Barbara glanced at one another then turned their attention back to both of the girls.

“No, girls,” Barbara spoke up with a sigh, causing the two teenage girls to stop giggling and turn their attention to her and Adam. “They’re both going to notice immediately that there’s a different lamp. Either Adam or I can just make a new version of the lamp and levitate it back over to where the previous lamp was. Okay?”

Silently, both Lydias nodded and Barbara calmly replaced the lamp that they had broken earlier. Soon though, another thought ran through the minds of both of the teens and they gave each other a knowing look.

“What if we just broke more things then?” the Lydia on the left spoke up in a rather amused tone of voice.

Barbara’s eyes widened as her attention snapped over to the leftmost Lydia. 

“WHAT?! NO! Let’s not do that, please?”

Both of the girls looked at Barbara, pouting and giving the female ghost pleading looks.

“Look, girls...” Barbara began. Adam moved off to the side as Barbara went to sit herself down on the couch and kept her attention focused on both of the teenagers, who were now turned and still keeping their eyes on the female ghost. “Like we said earlier, we don’t want Charles or Delia to come home to a trashed house and not a clean house.”

Both girls looked at each other, sighed, then turned their attention back to Barbara.

“What if we could go back upstairs to the attic space? Play a game of tag?” the rightmost Lydia asked, hopeful looks on both her and the leftmost Lydia’s faces.

“No. No playing tag in the attic,” replied Adam, shaking his head. “There’s not enough room up there to play a full game of tag.” 

“Hide and seek?” the Lydia on the left asked.

“Maybe outside. But not in the house, girls,” Barbara said.

“Awwww.... come on, Barbara!” the leftmost Lydia spoke up. “There’s plenty of places in which the two of us can hide in the house!” 

“Alright, fine...” Barbara relented after a few minutes. “But a quick game of hide and seek.”

“THANKS, BARBARA!” both of the teenagers shouted in unison as they turned on their heels and raced upstairs at once, laughing. And the Maitlands were left just standing there, equal looks of confusion washing over both of their faces for a few minutes. They heard a crashing noise, but it wasn’t that loud and it didn’t sound that serious. 

“We should probably go upstairs and make sure neither of them breaks anything or has broken anything. I hope that neither one of them has broken anything,” Barbara uttered out as she turned her attention over towards Adam, who nodded in response.

Another crashing noise was heard, this one louder than the previous one.

“Agreed...”

At the sound of a third, even louder crashing noise, Adam and Barbara teleported upstairs to find both of the Lydias not playing the game of hide and seek that they had told them they were going upstairs to do. In unison, the two ghosts sighed and folded their arms as their equally unamused gazes fell on both of the girls.

Another crash. Then a second, louder one.

“Ahem!” Barbara spoke up sternly, taking the attention of both girls away from what they were doing and directing it over to the two ghosts. “What are you two doing?”

“Playing hide and seek?” the Lydia on the right answered nervously.

Barbara turned her attention to the hallway, looking at the cluttered mess of various broken things that littered it, then looked back at both of the teenagers with what was now a stern look across her face. “This doesn’t look like you’re playing hide and seek.”

Both girls turned their attention to the same cluttered mess that Barbara had taken notice of then turned their attention back over towards the two unhappy ghosts.

In unison, they said, “oops...”

Barbara sighed quietly again, resting a hand against her forehead and closing her eyes slightly as she snapped her fingers and made the cluttered mess both of the girls had caused much earlier disappear. Turning her attention onto both of the Lydias, she noticed that they were hanging their heads, shuffling their feet, and overall looking sorrowful about what happened. Both the Maitlands’ previous expressions of anger softened and they gave them both worried looks.

“Girls, what’s wrong?” Barbara asked gently, causing both of the teenagers to look up and focus their attention onto her. The nervousness that was present on both of their faces remained, but faded just a little. Then they turned away from her and Adam.

“I think they think we’re mad at them,” Adam pointed out, looking over at Barbara before turning and looking between both of the teenagers.

Both girls whimpered, moving away when Barbara took a few steps towards them.

“Girls, girls... hey... hey... hey... listen... all of this was an accident just like the lamp you broke earlier. Adam and I promise you both that we’re not mad at you. It’s okay.”

Both of the girls looked up and turned their attention back to Adam and Barbara, their nervousness from earlier now completely disappearing. They both made their way over towards, although it was still rather slowly and carefully, the Maitlands.

“You guys... aren’t mad???” the Lydia on the right asked, exchanging a still nervous glance with the other one.

“No.” Barbara smiled softly and warmly at both of the teenagers. “We’re not.”

“But your dad and Delia certainly would be if they were home at the time.”

Barbara turned and looked up, giving her husband a hard glare. “Not helping, Adam.”

“Okay... okay... I’m sorry.” He held his hands up in front of him and backed up a few hundred feet away.

Barbara turned her attention back to both of the girls, who had since gone back to being nervous and were turned away from both her and Adam again and making quieter, but frequent whimpering noises. Barbara softly sighed and that turned the attention of both the girls onto her again. Adam moved to stand next to her again, a similar look to the one on his wife’s face showing on his.

Both girls again made their way over towards the Maitlands, the one on the left wrapping her arms around Barbara and the one on the right wrapping her arms around Adam. Both of the ghosts were taken by surprise at this, but returned the hugs that the two sorrowful teenagers were giving them.

After a while, both girls let go of the Maitlands and backed up just one step but kept their eyes focused on the wooden floor of the upstairs landing.

“Girls... look at us,” Barbara spoke up, turning the two girls’ attention away from the hallway floor and towards her and Adam. Both of the Lydias still had nervous looks on their faces that softened when warm smiles appeared on the Maitlands’ faces. “Like I said earlier, all of this was an accident and you guys didn’t mean to break anything. Now, let’s go downstairs and do something to try and keep our minds off this. Alright?”

Both girls turned to look at another, then nodded in unison as they turned their attention back over to the Maitlands. Before either ghost could say much of anything else, both of the girls snickered in unison and ran around the Maitlands again as they rushed downstairs.

“RACE YA!” both of the Lydias shouted up to the two stunned ghosts in unison, laughing.


	7. Just For the Fun of it

Both of them now invisible and with the intention of surprising both of the Lydias and making them laugh, Adam and Barbara crept downstairs as silently as they could and entered the living room. They scanned the area of the living room and found both Lydias jumping on the couch. They seemed to be giggling and having fun. Both ghosts dropped their invisibility as they moved further into the living room. Both girls stopped jumping and plopped themselves down on the couch, side by side, focusing their eyes onto the Maitlands and grinning. 

"Hi!" they both chirped at the same time. The Lydia sat closest to the edge of the couch stood up on it and jumped off of it. Barbara carefully caught her in midair. Though she was still unsure if the one she caught was the actual Lydia or if it was the clone. She decided not to think about it and carefully set her down.

"Woah there," the female ghost laughed quietly. "What on earth were you doing that for, little miss?" 

"Fun?" the Lydia Barbara had caught in midair replied shyly. 

Barbara glanced outside. "Why don't both of you spend some time outside? It's such a nice day after all and-..." 

Before she could say anything else, both teenagers ran outside. She and Adam both quickly teleported outside to keep an eye on both Lydias and make sure nothing happened to either of them. Though they chose to remain standing over by the door leading into the main floor of the house, both of them only intending to move further out into the backyard if and when it was needed. 

Turning their attention over towards both Lydias, the Maitlands immediately found the two girls throwing dirt at one another. Adam and Barbara looked at one another with worried looks on their faces, wondering why both girls were throwing dirt, and almost immediately teleported over to both of the Lydias.

"What are you doing?" Barbara had to ask, letting out a laugh. 

Both Lydias turned to her and Adam with huge grins on their faces. Each one of them had a handful of dirt, which they instantly threw at the Maitlands. Luckily, both ghosts managed to make themselves transparent in the nick of time so that the two handfuls of dirt that were thrown went easily through the Maitlands' forms. Then Adam and Barbara made themselves solid again with amused smiles on their faces. 

"Hey!" Barbara let out a hearty chuckle. "What on earth was that for?" 

"Just for the fun of it," the Lydia standing to the left said, the other Lydia looking at her and then at the Maitlands. "We kinda wanted you guys to join in on our dirt war." 

"Your... dirt war?" repeated Barbara in a confused voice.

"Mhm..." both girls said at once, giggling amongst themselves. 

Both of the girls turned to face one another again, and, as they bent down to grab another handful of dirt each to throw at one another, Barbara snapped her fingers and made the dirt disappear, making both Lydias look at her with pouty faces. 

“Barbara!” they complained in unison. 

“I think it’s lunchtime, girls. Aren’t either of you hungry?” Barbara asked, looking between both of the girls. 

Both girls looked at one another for a few minutes, then turned their attention back over towards Adam and Barbara, the Lydia on the right asking, “can the two of us please eat outside today? Like a picnic of sorts? You guys are ghosts. You could just summon it. Could you not?” 

Adam and Barbara looked at one another, both of them deep in thought, then they turned their attention back over towards both of the Lydias; both of whom were looking at them expectantly and waiting for both of the ghosts to answer. 

Eventually, Barbara said, “sure. Why not,” as she and Adam snapped their fingers. Almost immediately afterwards a picnic blanket appeared in the middle of the backyard, with double the amount of food. Both of the teenagers very nearly hurt themselves by practically leaping onto the blanket. Soon after, Adam and Barbara decided to sit down with both girls to spend some quality time with them. And since it was a moment in time in which both of the teens were not messing around and/or causing trouble, both Maitlands hoped a picnic would take the two girls’ minds off of said things for a while.

That was, until one of the two Lydias decided to start playing with her food instead of eating it, eventually getting the other one to join in.


	8. Double Up With Laughter

"RANDOM FOOD FIGHT FOR NO REASON!" loudly shouted one of the two teenagers, she and the other one standing up in unison and proceeding to pelt each other with the food that the Maitlands had summoned them, a second try at lunch after both teenagers refused to eat the previous food. They had said something about not wanting to ruin their food statues and that they wanted to photograph them later for whatever reason. 

The Maitlands weren't sure why. Neither girl had said anything when they asked. They just chuckled in response. 

"You're on!" the Lydia who hadn't shouted said, a playful smirk on her face. Her eyes were narrowed just a little and the previous smirk contorted into a widened grin as she held an apple out towards the other one. Then she went to go and throw it. 

"Yaaahhhhh!" the Lydia facing her screamed out amusingly, pretending to be scared as she ran away laughing. 

The Lydia with the apple laughed as well as she tried to throw the apple at who she now considered to be her twin sister. Or at least thought of as her twin sister. It was clear that whichever one was the clone wanted to stay around. And, since it looked like it was going to make whichever one was the real Lydia happy, then why not allow both Lydias to be around each other. But only as long as they both calmed down. 

The Maitlands watched on as the Lydia with the apple leapt at and tackled her 'twin sister' to the ground in a playful way, then proceeded to lightly hit her with the apple. 

The Lydia that was laying on the ground let out a few adorable and amusing giggles as she tried to push her ‘sister’ off of her. But the Lydia with the apple stayed put, now trying to get her to eat it instead of lightly hitting her with it. Wanting to avoid both teenagers getting into a play fight and quite possibly a rough one at that, the Maitlands both acted as quickly as they possibly could as they teleported over to where they were. 

“Sorry to interrupt either one of you getting too rough towards and possibly hurting the other one, but could you please stop with that before things get a little bit out of hand?” Barbara asked softly, looking from one Lydia to the other with a concerned look on her face.

One that was also present on Adam’s face. 

The two girls turned and grinned innocently at both her and Adam, the one that was pinning the other to the ground getting off of her and moving to the side to allow her to get up. The Lydia that had been on the ground for a mere five minutes dusted herself off and stood up as she moved to stand over near her ‘twin’, who was now munching on the apple that she had initially used to lightly hit her with. 

They turned and looked at one another then their grins became soft, regular smiles as they refocused their attention towards the Maitlands again. Both ghosts had questionable looks plastered on their faces that quickly transitioned to confused looks. 

“Now, why did you want to start that food fight?” Barbara asked, wanting to now change the subject. 

“Because it was fun,” the Lydia who was the one to start the food fight replied after a brief while. “And I got bored quite quickly so that was the only thing that I could think of doing when nothing else came to mind. Also, I kinda wanted my twin sis to lightly hit me with her apple. It was all planned out.” 

Ignoring that last part, Barbara asked, “so you’re going to be referring to each other as twin sister from now on?” 

Both girls grinned at her and Adam, adding an exuberant “yep!”

Adam and Barbara looked at each other, having a mental conversation for a few elongated minutes, then turned their attention back over towards the two girls, both of whom were just standing there and staring at them both as if they were expecting something other than an agreement to their decision. 

Eventually, Barbara chose to be the one who spoke up, “well. Okay then. If you girls want to be twin sisters then you can be twin sisters. It’s fine. Though we need to talk to your dad and Delia to get their agreement.”

“THANKS, BARBARA!” both girls shouted at once, rushing over in unison and wrapping their arms around her. Barbara was taken aback for a few minutes, then rested her arms around both girls’ shoulders. 

“You’re welcome...” was all she could think of saying. 

Hopefully Charles and Delia would be okay with both girls’ decision to be twin sisters.


End file.
